The parched ground shall become a pool… —Isaiah 35:7
“We always have a vision of something before it actually
becomes real to us. When we realize that the vision is real, but is not yet
real in us, Satan comes to us with his temptations, and we are inclined to say
that there is no point in even trying to continue. Instead of the vision
becoming real to us, we have entered into a valley of humiliation.[…] God gives
us a vision, and then He takes us down to the valley to batter us into the
shape of that vision. It is in the valley that so many of us give up and faint.
Every God-given vision will become real if we will only have patience. […] He
is never in a hurry. Yet we are always in such a frantic hurry. [..] God has to
take us into the valley and put us through fires and floods to batter us into
shape, until we get to the point where He can trust us with the reality of the
vision. Ever since God gave us the vision, He has been at work. He is getting
us into the shape of the goal He has for us, and yet over and over again we try
to escape from the Sculptor’s hand in an effort to batter ourselves into the
shape of our own goal.[…] Allow the Potter to put you on His wheel and whirl
you around as He desires. Then as surely as God is God, and you are you, you
will turn out as an exact likeness of the vision. But don’t lose heart in the
process. If you have ever had a vision from God, you may try as you will to be
satisfied on a lower level, but God will never allow it.” CHAMBERS
So what does that mean? How are vision … where God wants to take us or
what God wants to do through us … and trouble have any connection. There are some that believe that tribulation,
troubles and God’s leading have nothing to do with each other. In fact, if you are having trouble, that is a
sure sign that you missed God. Tell that
to Moses, Joseph, Daniel, the Apostles.
God allowing troubles to shape them .. to form their character .. to
test their faith … not to test so they might fail .. but to test so that their
might be strengthened. To prepare them
for what they would do for the glory of God. That is counter to the way we want
it to be. Wouldn’t it be better if God
saved us then protected us from every evil and hardship? All of us have encountered hardships … God
allowed them … He didn’t cause them, per se, but He allowed them. Why do I say that? Because I know that God is omnipotent. He can do anything He wants. And if that is true, He can prevent calamity. Job said “Though He slay me, yet will I trust
Him.” (Job 15:13).
Romans 8:28 says
God causes “all” things to work together for good. It doesn’t say He causes all things … the
troubles in this world were set in motion in the Garden with the first Adam … But
we have Jesus, the last Adam. (1 Corinthians
15:44-47) “If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So
it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a
life-giving spirit. The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and
after that the spiritual. The first man
was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven.” We live with the consequence of sin, but in
the power of the Hope of glory. God uses
the troubles we endure to shape us. That
doesn’t mean that what we endure will be made more pleasant, what it means is
that God will use it for His glory. In
the Westminster catechism it asks, “What is the chief end of man.” The answer, “To glorify God and enjoy Him
forever.” Think about it. ELGIN
Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)
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